With roughly 2,800 wineries in the state of California—nearly half of the 6,000 total in the U.S.—that, by any measure, is some pretty steep competition. Though not all of the big, prestigious and luscious Cab, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay producers from Napa and Sonoma compete in the State Fair competition, enough do to make it interesting.

I like to joke that some really hot Red Zin broke up my marriage with beer. But in the next breath I tell people that now, as a free man, I am having an affair with an aristocratic Italian beauty: Barbera.